reporting live here in santa cruz, bob riddell, "today in the bay." those police officers were not the only ones in harm's way on tuesday. santa cruz firefighters who responded to the scene also found themselves in the middle of gunfire. one of their trucks was near doyle street when the shooting started. firefighters hit the deck, diving behind the truck. one even tackled a woman to the ground and shielded her with his body. after about 30 seconds, the gunfire stopped. that's when firefighters noticed four bullets in their truck. >> we put ourselves at risk to save and protect the community and, you know, that's what we try and do the best job that we can. >> seven firefighters were on scene at the time of the shooting. none of them was hurt. we will continue to follow this story all morning long. you can find out more about the fallen officers and how to help their families on our website, nbcbayarea.com. new this morning, las vegas police say they are no longer looking for 22-year-old miami

woman. tanisha howard who had been linked to a shooting and fiery crash on the vegas strip. however, it's unclear if police have found her or if they simply no longer believe she's a person of interest. police are still searching for triple murder suspect amare harris. investigators say harris was driving an suv that fired shots at a maserati killing open rapper kept nrap rapper kenneth cherry. it crashed into a cab killing both people inside. we could learn more today about the strange death of a berkeley man earlier this month. 41-year-old xavier christopher moore died while in police custody. the circumstances surrounding his death are still unclear. authorities say officers were performing a mental health evaluation on moore at his home when the situation somehow escalated. neighbors say they saw officers carrying moore's body out of the building on a gurney. they say he was in restraints but appeared to be unconscious. police will address the public regarding his death later today. pope benedict xvi is

finishing up his final hours as head of the cath lish church. in just a few hours he'll officially step down. earlier this morning he met with cardinals at the vatican taking a moment with each of them. soon he'll hop on a helicopter and leave vatican city. arturo santiago is live in san jose with a look at what's next for the pope. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, marla. the pope's final historic day is already well under way at the vatican. he's saying his final farewells, and he's pledged his unconditional reverence and obedience to his successor. well, this morning the pope met with more than 100 cardinals who will elect the next pontiff. san francisco archbishop salvatore corleone is among them. benedict dregreeted them and ur them to work in harmony for the good of the church. at 11:00 pacific time, the pope's retirement takes effect

and he'll leave the vatican for a 15-minute helicopter ride. at 11:30 he's scheduled to appear on the balcony. he'll be referred to as pope emeritus and will continue to wear white but no longer the red shoes. he'll stay at the castle for several months, and then he's expected to live in a convent at the vatican. he will have no official duties and will spend most of his time praying. today the pope told the cardinals that he will be close to them in prayer as they proceed to choose his successor. and in that regard, the cardinals will meet again on monday, march the 4th. we're live in san jose, i'm arturo santiago, "today in the bay." >> quite the historic day. meteorologist christina loren joins us. a warm one on the way. >> it's going to be nice, terry and marla. it's going to be really, really nice. 5:05. start with your weather headlines. this is the kind of warm-up you

want to embrace. the tourism season hasn't yet started. that will kick in into spring. the first official day is the 20th of march. we're about 21 days away. hazy sunshine on the way. you'll get the beaches to yourselves if you can. san gregoria was empty yesterday. we're holding on to that good air quality today and tomorrow. more widespread 70s on the way for friday and then major cooling ahead. we've got a potent winter system on the way next week, and that's going to change things dramatically. the roller-coaster ride continues. today we keep on going up. 46 degrees in concord right now. at noon to 1:00, you'll be in the upper 60s. it's going to be comfortable. you'll be peeling off a layer. you'll see lots of shorts and short sleeves. 70 on the way for livermore. 70 in san jose. protect your skin with spf 30. 5:06. your seven-day outlook ready in my next report.

first, hold up one moment. mike knows what could slow you down. >> we were tracking one incident on the east shore freeway. we'll show you that live look with those headlights streaming westbound. underneath university avenue, you see the nice spacing. we'll show you the vicinity for the maps. speed sensors not slowing at all in the area. westbound, the lights, i just showed you, marked with the arrow here. farther back for some of these folks, we did have slowing with hercules where there was a crash on the shoulder and sounded like there was paperwork being done. also slowing that's cleared up, good news, no delays off the r carquinas bridge. we do have slowing, road crews overnight. that's where we see the slowing. and westbound, slowing out of the altamonte because you're getting more company. meanwhile, a live look outside to see how 280 shapes up northbound with headlights coming up underneath 880 and 17.

nice drive towards cupertino. while i'm looking at the south bay, you've got an update on roads in the san francisco area. what's going on? >> cleanup continues out of a san francisco neighborhood following the aftermath of a massive water main break. nearly two dozen homes and the water created a large sinkhole. our christie smith is live with more details on the cleanup. >> reporter: good morning to you. boy, what a difference a day makes. the streets clean. they're not buried under two or three feet of mud like yesterday morning. cleanup probably still going on inside of the homes that had mud and water that crept inside. but i wanted to show you, if you can see in the distance there, the big sinkhole that opened up, caused all this yesterday. it's been filled in this morning. it opened up yesterday morning when a 16-inch water main broke wide open, sending mud and water right down the street. damaging a dozen cars and at least 23 homes here in the area. in some cases in the garage and downstairs bedrooms, that water was about three feet high.

six homes were yellow tagged yesterday, meaning that they need to be inspected a little bit further for settling issues at the foundation. now, i spoke with a neighbor yesterday who told me when the family woke up at 3:00 in the morning, they heard water rushing downstairs. >> i opened the door, i saw what looked like a big river going on. we got really scared because we didn't know how high it was going to go. >> reporter: that pipe is 61 years old but exactly why it broke or whether it was age or something else, that's still all part of the investigation. but a spokesperson for the san francisco public utilities commission said that the city is on the hook for the repairs. they will pay for it. estimates or at least early ones that this would be hundreds of thousands of dollars. now, i'm told again that that pipe is fixed. the next step will be paving it over. a policeman is out here watching the blocked-off street, tells me that that paving expected to start sometime between 7:00 and 8:00 this morning. reporting live in san francisco,

kristi smith, "today in the bay." coming up, it is the party some of the bay area hope never happens. what we've learned crews will now do to commemorate the opening of the eastern span of the bay bridge. plus, time is ticking for president obama to take a stand on an issue that means so much to so many here in the bay area. and some amateur sleuths try to do detective work, tracking down chinese hackers. call them wikipedia brown. coming up. lucky charms?!

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welcome back, everybody. 5:12 on this thursday morning. looking at a shot of the bay. and we've got a real warm day. way to welcome in march. it's going to be a beautiful one. christie will be along shortly to give you all the details. mike's going to tell you how it's going to be moving so smoothly on the bridges as it is there. party plans are moving forward for the grand opening of the new eastern span of the bay

bridge. officials have agreed to use $5.6 million in bridge tolls to pay for public safety and access during the labor day celebration. they still have to raise money for the concert if there's going to be one, fireworks if there's going to be some. opponents say all that money could be put to better use for schools, roads or even police officers. to offset the costs, they're considering charging a small free to walk across the bridge that weekend. parking at a b.a.r.t. station could soon get more expensive. the board of directors will consider today whether to adopt boosting fees based on demand. $1 parking would go up by 50 cents and monthly rates would go up to $10.50. if approved, the increase would begin next year. 5:13. new evidence this morning that the chinese military is behind attacks on american companies and their computers. scott mcgrew, this time amateur internet detectives were able to uncover clues. >> yeah, this comes after a big professional security company mandiant first made the connection between hack attacks and the red army unit called

61398. mandian gave the public enough information about the unit and its members that internet users were able to take it a bit further, tracking down individual soldiers, connecting their online personas with actual school records and resumes. "the new york times" says one soldier used the same phone number to register an e-mail for a hack attack as he did to advertise his apartment for rent in shanghai. several of the soldiers used 61398 as a password. their unit number. well, brian shactman has been reporting for us from cnbc world headquarters all week, and the dow has hit a five-year high. coincidence? i think not, brian. >> reporter: i don't want to put anyone to put me on a keychain and run me three times on the head, scott. thank you very much. stock futures a touch higher today. nothing like yesterday. a big rally. the dow now just 100 points shy away from its all-time high.

and the nasdaq and s&p back in positive territory for the month. stocks advancing as european markets rebounded from two days of losses there. meanwhile, here, we had better than expected data on pending home sales. we get reports today on unemployment, manufacturing and a revision to fourth quarter gdp which actually should show the economy grew a little bit late last year. the dow jumping 175 points to 14,075. the nasdaq rising 32 to 3262. we've had trouble staying above that 14,000 level. we'll see if we can hold it for the second day in a row. google founder sergey brin is down at the big ted conference in long beach where he showed off the new google glass device on stage. this is a publicity picture from ted. bryn said the heads-up display keeps you from hunching over your cell phone, a position he says is emasculating. those are his words, not mine. this coming from a man who through the android operating system has sold us millions of cell phones. now, ted is the very exclusive,

very expensive conference, and you know how you know your friends are at ted? they will tell you, they are at ted. twitter is full of a bit of smugness this morning. >> they're very proud. >> yes. oh, you know, when i was at ted. you'll notice i am sitting here. >> yes. well, you could say it the same way if you were at ted. >> i would be tweeting it for sure. if you thought california's smog was bad, look at this. you can't even see what it is. it's beijing where a sandstorm swept through the city on top of the daily heavy smog. some people wore masks to combat the conditions. last month air quality fell to its lowest point, prompting a public outcry. the government has responded by placing restrictions on driving, and there is talk on reducing the country's dependency on coal and getting on over to cleaner energy. how's our air quality out there, miss christina? >> it's good. it's really good. thank terry mcsweeney for that.

glad to have you with us this morning. there's going to be a lot of that happening. 5:16 now. yeah, you know, john's off, so we get a little terry mcsweeney in our lives. and you know what, sir? you have an amazing news voice. i will tell you that right now. i've enjoyed it all morning long. looking good now. temperatures mostly in the 40s this morning. only place in the 30s is gilroy. everybody else is in the 40s. so it's a much more mild start. in fact, the mildest start we've had in a week. so enjoy it this morning. don't even need that heavy coat. you can go straight to the sweater. maybe long sleeve shirt to start. layer up because by noon today we're already going to be getting close to 70 in some cities. just want to zoom in, show you the east bay readings. 42 degrees to start the day in livermore. so high pressure is sitting and it's going to build a little bit of a -- gather momentum today. gain some strength. so for us, what that means is the storm track stays to our north. but it's just to our north. so what's going to happen is these high and mid-level clouds will continue to spill into the

bay area especially for the first part of the day. that means for us when the sun comes up this morning, it is going to be just a spectacular sunrise. end us yo send us your pictures, nbcbayarea.com or put them on your facebook page. we love sharing them. for today, numbers are near record. 71, i'm forecasting a record in napa today, beating out the old one set back in 2008. 71 degrees, making this the warmest day for the final day of february on record. 70 in livermore today. 68 degrees in fremont. and 69 degrees in san rafael. we keep that warm-up going all the way through friday. then saturday, it's kind of going to get a little bit interesting around here. here's what's going to happen. the south bay cities are going to end up a little warmer on saturday than what we're expecting for friday. because of the mild start. then on sunday, temperatures drop like a rock. we're back to the mid-60s. monday into tuesday, we keep on falling. and then we bring in that rain and the cold tuesday, wednesday, even thursday of next week. a wet week ahead.

so make sure you enjoy the 70s while they last. 5:18. let's check your drive. what are you tracking? >> we're tracking the build which starts in some spots for the bay area. the south bay, we're looking just fine. we're also mentioning the fact that the sharks are playing tonight. watch out, shark this the water tonight playing those red wings. looking for a "w." northbound, we're looking for a little slowing still, north 17 right around redwood estates. starting like the activity coming to a close northbound. one lane reportedly blocked by a fire crew. car went up on the shoulder. both sides showing slowing, southbound is the one our viewers are worried about out of los gatos. we'll track it. folks getting through mild slowing. about a minute or two delay there. we're also looking toward fremont. traffic shows a nice smooth flow. let's get a quick look. yeah, light volume. so north and south not a problem because of all the spacing here. back to the maps again. we'll talk about 680 coming out of the area. northbound heading up.

looks like it's just about clearing and no incidents reported there. tri-valley commute is a nice smooth flow. westbound 580, your typical build out of the altamont. this construction eastbound looks like it's just about clearing. the slowing we saw earlier has cleared out of the roadway. and terry talked about the bay bridge. last time we showed you that quick look, i want to show you the toll plaza because the cash lanes are starting to back up just a bit. typical pattern. and no delays on the span. back to you. >> thanks so much. 5:20. there is relief this morning for families of a bay area couple reported missing in peru. hand and neil spoke with loved ones yesterday by phone. hand posted an update on his facebook account saying, "i'm alive." neil even posted an apology for worrying everyone back home. the two were traveling through the amazon in late january and had no access to electricity or the internet. they say this is why they have not been in contact.

the president has until today to decide whether or not he will ask the supreme court to strike down proposition 8. that's because today's the deadline for the president to file a friend of the court brief. president obama is a supporter of gay marriage but has not indicated whether or not he's going to file it. today is also the deadline for filing opinions on the defense of marriage act. hundreds of businesses including a number of bay area tech companies filed briefs yesterday. apple, google, oracle and ebay all asked the court to strike down the 1996 federal law that bars benefits to same-sex couples. businesses argue it places an unfair burden on employers because it forces them to create two different benefit systems, one for same-sex couples and one for heterosexual couples. 5:21. coming up, a new scam taking aim at bay area pet lovers. [ mom ] dear chex cereal, i just had to write. you can't imagine how long i've been searching for something like this for my family. i'm amazed you make so many great flavors

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welcome back, everybody. 5:23 right now. and you're looking at a gorgeous shot of the port of oakland. and the very reliable source who goes by the name of christina tells me it's going to be about 65 degrees. 65 degrees today in oakland. a gorgeous day for everybody in the bay area. a new scam this morning is tugging at the heartstrings and pur pursestrings of bay area dog lovers. officials at sfo says a scammer is asking people to send in money as part of a yorkshire terrier giveaway. sfo does not offer such a program. officials say the scammer would ask victims to pay for travel costs and vaccination fees. the request is sent from a phony agency called the health care department at sfo. it doesn't exist. for managore information, visit ftc.gov. san francisco is asking the state legislature to give its blessing for the warriors' new arena. a city assemblyman has

introduced legislation that would allow the port of san francisco to approve the deal as long as certain conditions are met. critics say the plan will help the city bypass a state lands commission which must sign off on the $1 billion project. the director of the waterfront project says this is simply a way to help out the lance commission. a moment ago i talked about my source about that 65 degrees in oakland. >> you said a reliable source. >> a reliable source. let's introduce her. >> christina lauren. >> i thought you said reliable. >> you are. >> hey, i don't stop ever looking at the weather because it's always changing around here. and today, we are going to change in the good direction. if you're looking for the sunshine, for the warmth, if you're mike and you want to get a jump start on your spring cleaning. 72 degrees inland. 70 bayside at the coast, right around 69 degrees. so we're talking records today. very unusual to hit these highs at this time of year. tomorrow, the first day of

march. looks like we're going to peak for the first official day of march. and get ready because it's going to be warm. your full forecast is moments away. 5:25, first let's check that drive with mike. >> good morning. just a moment ago we saw a couple cars, now a couple more at the bay bridge. these are the lanes between hov, the diamond lane and the fast track lanes. these cash lanes looks like not all of those toll booths are open. stay over to your right as you approach if you can. looks like those are moving a little more smoothly. we're indicating volume building here as well. the map for the maze does not show any real slowing. and we're looking at also south 680 approaching the bridge, there's a new crash as you're approaching the 780 interchange. sounds like all the activity is off to the shoulder but watch for slowing and draistraction. there's the peninsula. >> mike, thanks a lot. to tokyo where a rare otter is quickly becoming a national star. what?

>> he's adorable. >> his name's haku. a white otter cub. he's been a big hit at a downtown aquarium. what makes this creature rare is the fact it's able to keep its colored fur at her current age. typical river otters are born with white fur. of course, you knew that. after several months it turns black. not in this case. veterinarians think haku might think her white coat for many years. if you're going to tokyo, something to keep in mind. >> say hi to haku for us. 5:27. still to come on "today in the bay," we'll go live to vatican city where the pope officially steps down in just about 2 1/2 hours. live details on what's next for pope benedict xvi and the catholic church. you can't move the tv there.

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san francisco go back to normal patrols this morning after two of their officers were shot and killed earlier in the week. i'm bob riddell. live to headquarters coming up. plus, happening now at the vatican, pope benedict xvi gets

his final farewell. and it's going to be a bustle day. near record warmth on the way. but we're going to drop from the mid-70s to the mid-50s in a matter of days. lots to sort out. time line's on the way in your full forecast. and as things start to build for the east bay, i do have a new crash i'm tracking over on the nimitz. we'll show you what the latest is coming up. and a live look outside. it is thursday, february 28th. we've got a nice beautiful day on the way. and this is "today in the bay." good morning to you. it is 5:30. thanks for being with us. i'm marla tellez. >> i'm terry mcsweeney in for john kelly. santa cruz police officers will be back on the job today, just two days after two of its detectives were killed in the line of duty. today in the bay's bob riddell live in santa cruz this morning where a memorial to the two officers is growing. good morning, bob.

>> reporter: yeah, good morning to you there, terry. you see it over my shoulder here outside headquarters. yes, santa cruz police will resume normal duties and patrols today after taking a break to deal with the shock of what happened here in town tuesday afternoon. it was the santa cruz county sheriff's deputies who had been covering on their behalf. we're getting a better idea of what led jeremy goulet to shoot and kill officer baker and butler. goulet was a ticking time bomb according to his zad who had vowed he'd never go back to jail. when officers visited his house to talk to him about his breaking into a woman's home, goulet opened fire, killing both officers on his doorstep. you should be able to hear soon in this exclusive cell phone video we obtained, how law enforcement responded when they cornered goulet a short time later, they unleashed their weapons, firing several rounds. this comes as a relief to danny thomas. he has been living in fear of goulet for a while now.

so much so that he eventually moved away to canada, leaving this country. back in 2007, thomas caught goulet videotaping his girlfriend in the shower. he fought with goulet. a gun was fired by goulet, but he was eventually acquitted of the felony charges leveled against him. >> it's really crazy. you hear on tv all the time people, you know, getting away with things. this is just one of those things that hits home because someone got away with something that was pretty bad, only to commit something worse. >> reporter: the community joined police in a vigil last night to remember sergeant baker and detective butler. both officers were veterans of the force and leave behind families. today we can learn details about a memorial service. a news conference is scheduled for 11:30 here at police headquarters where you can see their front entrance is slowly being crowded out by an outpouring of love and support from the community. reporting live here at santa cruz police headquarters, bob

riddell, "today in the bay." >> all right, bob. amazing memorial down there at santa cruz police headquarters. visit nbcbayarea.com to learn more about fallen officers lauren "butch" baker and elizabeth butler. it is the pope's final day. in just about 2 1/2 hours, he will leave the vatican, becoming the first pope in 600 years to resign. maryann ahern is live in vatican city with what's happening now and what's next for the church. good morning, maryann. >> reporter: hello to all of you from the vatican. of course, the pope met this morning with his cardinals, more than 100 of them, filling the apostolic palace where he gave them a blessing and then one by one, each of the cardinals coming up to bid their farewell. some whispering in his ear. another giving him a letter. they all offering a big standing ovation to him before he left.

the pope now spending some quiet time before he leaves. the speculation, of course, mounting of who might be next. while no conclave date has been set, certainly they are talking behind the scenes. >> we're already talking. we talk to -- you know, you can see, if you were there at the audience, all of them were up there talking. we weren't just talking about the weather. >> reporter: when the conclave is called, that is when they will enter the sistine chapel. when that date is set, all of the cardinals will then stay at what's called the casa santa marta, a hotel built just for these occasions. and at that hotel, it will have to have all of the telephones and the televisions turned off and even swept for eavesdropping devices. i'm maryann ahern live at the

vatican. terry and marla, back to you. >> very serious business. okay, maryann, thank you so much. it is 5:34 now. we have new details in a deadly shooting on the campus of a san leandro elementary school. "the san francisco chronicle" reports tahir randall allegedly shot 19-year-old trevian foster after foster refused to make good on a $5 bet. the two were reportedly playing a late-night dice game on the grounds of hillside elementary school on february 13th. randall was charged with murder and is being held without bail. investigators are still looking for two other men in connection with this case. after public outcry from parents in brentwood, the school board last night fired a superintendent merrill grant. the vote comes a week after the board placed grant on administrative leave for his handling of an incident involving special education teacher deana holder. holder was convicted of kicking a 5-year-old student with autism back in 2010. but allowed to continue teaching. the district also says it is now taking disciplinary actions

against three other district employees. it is 5:35. good morning. meteorologist christina lauren is tracking a nice day on this thursday. >> it is going to be beautiful absolutely. thanks for waking up with us each and every weekday morning. if you have the day off, you are in such luck because it's going to be perfect to hit the beach. start with statewide temperatures. rather uniform this morning. usually we get a lot colder in your inland cities, but offshore flow negates that marine influence. so temperatures are very similar right now in san francisco versus san jose. we're at 45. and as we head throughout the day, because of this mild start and high pressure gaining strength, it's going to be a couple degrees warmer than yesterday, and yesterday was spectacular. here is where you want to be, by the water. it's your coastal cities that are really going to benefit from this warm-up. 47 to start the day. pacifi pacifica, 46. half moon bay, headed towards

the 70s. santa cruz at 4:00 p.m. will be at 68. if you can get over 17 later on today, it should be nice on the warm sands of santa cruz. 76 getting oh so close to 80 in gilroy today. 70 for san jose and 68 on the east shore in fremont, 65 on the way for oaktown. coming up in my next report, i want to help you make those weekend plans. after uall, it's friday eve. mike's here to get you there on time. >> otherwise you don't get that paycheck or at least it gets docked. 880 where there's no delay past the coliseum. northbound with taillights. southbound with headlights, an equal flow. we'll show you that area on the map as well. 580 and 880, i marked your commute directions. toward the bay bridge with the arrows. as you see, no slowing. there is an incident southbound as you're heading towards san leandro. there's a crash on the shoulder. sounds like a hit-and-run crash. call in to chp and let them

know. sounds like a yukon truck may be involved. no injuries reported. looking toward the tri-valley for west 580 coming out of the altamont in through livermore. that's because of the volume of traffic. pleasanton and sonoma for south 680. we'll catch a live look, 101 north of 680. burst starting to build now. i'll have a better look coming up. terry, you've got a look at the streets of san francisco. yeah, the streets of san francisco need cleaning up. cleanup continues this morning at a san francisco neighborhood. a massive water main break yesterday drenched dozens of homes and cars. it even created a large sinkhole. "today in the bay's" christie smith is live with more details on the cleanup effort. good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you. the situation has certainly improved here on 15th avenue. if we were standing here at this time yesterday, we'd be standing in three feet of mud. the street is still blocked off. i want to show you up the street that sinkhole has been filled in. an officer on scene tells me crews will be back out here

between 7:00 and 8:00 this morning to continue working and pave it over. but i wanted to show you also the gaping hole that opened up yesterday morning when a 16-inch water main under the street broke near 15th and wiwona. the mud and water from under the street washed into garages and lower-level bedrooms into homes here. in fact, 23 homes and at least a dozen cars were damaged. one neighbor told me his bedroom was under nearly three feet of water at 3:00 in the morning when he woke up and heard the sound of water rushing in. >> i was sleeping and i just woke up, and i heard, like, water coming in from outside. so i got out and i stepped in water. and i got shocked. >> reporter: some of the homes had cracks open up in the walls inside, at least six homes had to be yellow tagged, meaning that they had possibly some settling issues so they needed more inspection. now, a spokesperson for the san francisco public utilities commission says the city is on

the hook, will pay for repairs. the pipe itself about 61 years old. still under investigation. they don't know exactly why it broke. reporting live in san francisco, christie smith, "today in the bay." >> christie, thanks very much. 5:40. problem solved. the head of boeing says the grounded dreamliners will hit the skies again soon. the face of one of california's best-known anti-smoking campaigns dies. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] now's the time to save 5% off every day with your lowe's consumer credit card. has oats that can help lower cholesterol? and it tastes good? sure does!

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it is 5:42. the countdown is on. tomorrow $85 billion in federal budget cuts will go into effect unless washington acts fast. it will hit everyone from senior citizens to kindergarteners. "today in the bay's" tracie potts is live on capitol hill. is there any way we're going to avoid these cuts? >> reporter: well, we don't know yet, but it doesn't look like that, marla. what i can tell you is that

there's now an 11th hour meeting scheduled at the white house. keeping in mind that while tomorrow is the day, the president doesn't officially have to sign off on these cuts until one minute before midnight tomorrow, friday night. now he's invited top democrats and republicans from the hill over to the white house tomorrow earlier at some point to talk about it. this will be the first time they talked officially in some sort of extended discussion in some time. what can they possibly do on the day that the cuts are scheduled to happen? that we don't know. what we do know is that the senate has a couple of votes today on democratic and republican plans. neither of them expected to pass. but we do wait to see what might come out of this meeting tomorrow before that deadline. marla? >> it seems it always comes down to just the nick of time. tracie potts, thank you so much. the man known as stormin' norman will be laid to rest today. funeral services will be held for general norman schwarzkopf. the 78-year-old died in december from complications from pneumonia. and he is best known for his

no-nonsense approach when he commanded the allied coalition during the first gulf war. schwarzkopf will be buried next to his father at the u.s. military academy at west point. his family delayed the funeral because of potential conflicts with the presidential inauguration and martin luther king jr. day events. the woman at the center of one of the most shocking anti-smoking campaigns of all time has died. the family of debbie austin says she died of cancer on friday at a hospital in southern california. austin first appeared on tv in 1996, smoking a cigarette through a hole in her throat. the anti-smoking ad was designed to illustrate just how addicting smoking can be. austin started smoking at age 13 and never quit. her larynx was removed when she was 42 to allow her to breathe. debbie austin was 62 years old. meanwhile, sacramento lawmakers are considering a new law that would prohibit smoking in all multifamily homes.

ab-746 was introduced by an assemblyman last week. the measure would prohibit smoking zbrelts, cigars or pipes induplexes and apartments. boeing says it's come up with a permanent fix for the 787 dreamliner. their president made the announcement in tokyo this morning. >> this solution takes into account any possible event that may occur, any factor, causal factor, that could cause an event, and we are very confident that we have this fix that will be permanent and will allow us to continue with the technology. >> all 50 of boeing's dreamliners have been grounded since mid-january when there was a battery fire on a flight in boston and a second one on a flight in japan. well, february goes out with a bang. we're just loving this weather. >> yeah. it is really nice. you know what, though? it's california. this is why we live in california. and you're going to hear a lot about this potent storm that is still impacting the northeast.

the midwest was hit hard. the deep south as well. they had heavy rain, flooding over the course of this week, and it's still wintertime. hard to believe when we're talking about temperatures approaching 76 in places like gilroy. want to start with this live picture. this, of course, beautiful downtown san jose. looking nice and clear to start the day. we are going to get a phenomenal sunrise this morning. just one hour away from your official sunrise. 48 degrees in san francisco. 48 to start the day in novato. and 48 in napa. meanwhile, nice and mild in oakland. 47 degrees. so when we're starting out close to 50, you consider the upper 50s, our average for places like san francisco this time of year. yeah, we are going to bypass those averages by about 11:00 a.m. high pressure's the reason why. building in quickly for today. this is a strong ridge of high pressure. and it's going to continue to drive our winds offshore. so we will see plenty of 60s and 70s today. 70s on the way for the coast. most of your coastal cities as we get into this weekend as temperatures on friday and saturday will be the warmest. but today not too shabby.

70 in livermore. 74 on the way to fairfield. 76 in gilroy. i think you'll be hitting about 80 degrees by tomorrow in gilroy. so make sure you're ready for that. 68 in fremont and 65 in oakland. you know we're talking about temperatures this warm here in the bay area. down south they're going to be even closer to 90 degrees. so if you're heading down there, make sure you've got your summer gear ready to go. don't put away the winter wardrobe just yet. you're going to need it next week. the rain returns, the cold comes with it and temperatures drop from the mid-70s to the upper 50s. so tuesday, wednesday and thursday, you're working out that umbrella. it's 5:47. let's see how we're doing on the roads. good morning, mike. >> we talked about that first burst kicking in for the south bay. we do see traffic gumming up a bit here northbound 101 underneath that 680/280 interchange. it's starting a bit before we typically see. northbound 101 right around story and continues up toward 880. for the last few minutes i also saw speeds in the 50s as you're

heading up past the airport. that is calming down. then it will kick in again over the next few minutes. by 6:15, we'll have another slowdown starting in earnest. here north 87, slowing a bit into downtown. another build here. but the rest of the south bay moves smoothly up in the northbound direction including the santa cruz mountains, 17, that earlier crash has cleared head heading up toward the summit. smooth drive for the peninsula, 101, picks up volume but speeds unchanged for 101 and 280 between san mateo and the city. either direction off 92. the bay bridge shows a little slowing there. but actually the backup we had has now cleared. it's just that all lanes now have a little backup approaching the toll plaza as the build happens over here. we'll get a look at the east bay and overall smooth flow out of the caldecott. we do have an issue for the north bay. south 680, earlier crash, still have activity and now a crew has arrived blocking one lane approaching the bridge. 5:48.

investigators are looking into the cause of a deadly house explosion that happened in michigan. the blast killed a 58-year-old man at a home just outside of detroit. the explosion shattered windows on dozens of other nearby homes and cars. utility crews have been working in the area earlier in the day. and investigators think natural gas might have played a role in that blast. scientists are shedding new light on the dangers posed by japan's stricken fukushima nuclear power plant. according to a world health organization report, most people living in that part of japan face a 1% increase in getting cancer. the w.h.o. says those living in towns near the plant were only exposed to radiation equivalent to two c.a.t. scans. nothing but good vibes for alex smith after news he was being traded. "best of luck to alex in kc. amazing teammate, friend and person. i know he will do great things

there." safety dante whitner tweeted, "good luck, mr. alex smith. i know you'll do great under andy reid in kc, the ultimate pro." there are reports the 49ers will send smith to the kansas city chiefs on march 12th. in return, san francisco will receive a second round pick this year and a conditional pick in 2014. and it was a bittersweet night for the warriors' stephon curry scoring a career high 54 points against the knicks. curry set a warriors' record of 11 three-pointers in a single game. in the zone. the downer, the warriors ended up losing, 109-105. even so, curry all smiles after the game. >> i think when i get good looks and see the ball go in a couple times and then you start to find yourself open each possession, i had confidence, just rise up and take it. and no matter where i was on the floor, i'm just blessed to have played the way i did and have a chance down the stretch. i can't be mad at that.

try to get them when they come out to oracle next time. >> the warriors are on their way to boston. they play the september iceltic night. some of that free music could cost you. the changes that pandora is making coming up. and a young ceo may be out very soon. we'll look at the future of groupon coming up in business news. ♪ [ female announcer ] at yoplait, we want you to feel even better about your favorite flavors. so when you call, tweet, and post, we listen. that's why yoplait light and yoplait original

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pandora is closing its free music box. just a little bit. the internet radio site says it will limit the number of hours mobile users can listen to free songs to 40 hours per month. pandora which reliesyies mainly advertising is struggling to grow with competition from sirius xm and facing song royalties. users who top 40 hours a month can then pay 99 cents for the rest of that month or opt to sign up for the premium ad-free service.

what scott mcgrew says, the more successful pandora gets, the bigger their problems. scott, pandora is hoping congress can help it out. >> yeah, the east bay company pays a much bigger chunk of money for each song than services like satellite radio or local mix 106. pandora has repeatedly asked congress to fix that, to make laws to force the copyright royalty board to treat online radio the same as other music sources like satellite or terrestrial, but so far that hasn't worked. now, congress, let's recall, may not even keep us out of sequester. pandora reports profits early next month. pandora trades on the nyse. its stock is up nearly 40% so far this year. the dow, meanwhile, on track to set an all-time record, breaking through a five-year high on wednesday. meanwhile, over at the nasdaq, groupon is crumping. that's andrew mason in the middle, launching that stock in the fall of 2011. at the time it was the biggest tech ipo since google.

now we kind of doubt mason will last as ceo after last night's financial report sent the stock into another tailspin, falling by 25% in after-hours trading. now, mason, honestly, is a really nice guy. but he's never quite gotten the hang of this. and groupon has been just one of the biggest disasters that we have seen. mason is very, terry, is very sanguine, but he understands that he's going to be out fairly soon. and we think it may be a matter of days. >> that cannot be a good feeling. >> no. >> yeah, he's come to grips with it. you have to. >> he's zen about it. he said he kind of knows about it. >> there will be another gig. thank you, scott. christina loren looking at that forecast. what can we expect today? 70s? >> it's going to be really nice. sometimes you have to fall so you can get back up and rise a little higher. and today our temperatures are rising to near record highs. but don't get used to it. a 20-degree drop-off on the way

as we head through the coming days. so today, inland, 72 degrees. 70 bayside at the coast, 69. we are not even done with this warm-up just yet. we're going to peak tomorrow. we'll take you through that forecast and then we'll time out the showers on the way. winter returns next week. so lots to go over. 5:56. let's find out what we're tracking on the roads with mike. >> tracking the build. we have the south bay, i just showed you the slowdowns. 880 going into the south bay through fremont and milpitas and a few more cars to join this view as well. now, we're still at the limit past the truck scales. let me show you the maps also for the tri-valley where we have just a steady build. a slower build for thursday. through 580 and toward the dublin exchange. no surprises there. 680 holds at the limit and pleasanton. but actually 680ve ven -- benicia bridge. your although mat, so you don't have a good alternate around the backup. tough it out because it sounds like you'll be able to clear

this shortly but it is quite a backup for this time of the morning. also looking at the north bay, southbound 101 towards san rafael. a quick look at the bay bridge. the backup still building slowly for those cash lines. >> metering lights will be on soon enough. 5:56. tim lincecum possibly headed to court. we'll tell you why coming up. plus, a live look at the vatican. about two hours from right now, the pope will end his day and officially end his tenure as head of the catholic church. we'll have a look at what the pope will do next in a live report.

history in the making as the pope steps down as the leader of the catholic church. what's next for the pope and when will the search for his successor begin? really thought it was a big failure of the system to let him go after all that. >> a ticking time bomb with a

vengeance. what we learned overnight about the man accused of shooting and killing two santa cruz police detectives. a san francisco street goes from a slip 'n' slide to a sinkhole. new details about what's being done to clean up the mess. and our winter warm-up means you can hit the beaches comfortably before tourism season starts. we'll let you know which beaches will be the warmest. that's going to be a great day in the bay. and you've got the time to think about that weekend as you approach the bay bridge. i've also got delays. one of your bridges out of the north bay. we'll check that out coming up. a look at the city by the bay. gorgeous shot. midnight blue skies on this thursday, february 28th. this is "today in the bay." good morning. thanks for joining us. i'm terry mcsweeney in for john kelly. >> i'm marla tellez. new this morning, the dawn of a

new era for catholics worldwide as pope benedict xvi steps down as leader of the church. moments ago, the pope said a final farewell to his closest advisers and cardinals, but he is not expected to speak publicly. "today in the bay's" arturo santiago joins us with a look at how history is being made at the vatican. good morning, arturo. >> reporter: good morning, marla. and these are historic moments for the catholic church from rome all the way to san jose. pope benedict's retirement formally goes into effect at 11:00 a.m. pacific time. ♪ now, benedict told the 115 cardinals that he will be close to them in prayer as they proceed to choose his successor. now, the pope greeted the cardinals one by one as they took o